Humor? Inspiration? Commentary? Other Stuff?

Haiti

I am absolutely overcome this morning… We just found out from our missionary friends in Haiti that the orphanage we visited and worked at and fell in love with last April collapsed this morning. There were people inside. There were children inside. At this point, we don’t know exactly who was there and who was elsewhere. Many people are unaccounted for, including Val, the 80-something year old man who has run the orphanage for almost 45 years. I have not been able to stop looking through our pictures from that trip, looking at faces, wondering who I will never have the opportunity to see again. Wondering if Michelle and I will ever be able to see Toto, our sponsor child, again.

If you pray, please take some time to pray for the nation of Haiti. It is the poorest country in the western hemisphere, and probably the least able to deal with a natural disaster like this. Pray for the people of Haiti. Pray for the missionaries and humanitarian workers who will be trying to pick up the pieces for years to come. Pray for the community that surrounds Val’s Orphanage near the Christianville Mission. Pray for the doctors and nurses at Christianville, who are already having to treat people outside because they’re out of space. Pray that, throughout the rebuilding process, God would be glorified, and that this might become an opportunity to break the hold that voodoo has on Haitian culture. Pray for those of us here who are anxious to hear news of people we care about deeply.

In case it’s difficult for you to pray for abstract things that you’ve never seen before, here are some of the faces I’m praying for.

Published by Joseph

Post navigation

4 comments

Joe I am praying for the whole situation in Haiti. My heart goes out to you and Michelle with the waiting and wondering about Toto. As a parent it is just unbarable not knowing the safety of your children. I pray you get word soon.

Thank you for sharing what I am also feeling. Being apart of the missions team that went in April 09, Kayla and I have a personal relationship and a bond in Christ with the Haitian people. Our family at Val’s is our main concern at this time and anxiously await news about them. Knowing that all children rest in the arms of our Lord upon their death is the only thing giving me comfort, Heaven at last! Praying that God will give you and Michelle peace in knowing where little Toto is asap.

Thanks for your comments, Vickie and Karen. I don’t think I really realized how important all of the people we worked with and got to know are to me until this morning. I just feel so helpless, so powerless.

Thank you for this posting, please keep updating on Val’s orphanage. It has to be the same one. My missionary friends are currently there, and they help an orphanage w/ an 80 something man running it named “Val”. I pray that they find Val and all the children safely!
Thank you.